Great Scott! 30 games, 30 cities in 30 days

"I gave up numerous times," Scott says. "Like on Mondays, there might only be five games. And you've got the All-Star Game right in the middle [of the season], so you don't want to do 30 in 33. Like our T-shirts say, it's 30 in 30. You have to do all the West Coast at one time. I spread things out all over the living-room floor. It's worse [than Rubik's Cube]. You think it can't be done. When it finally worked out, I let out a whoop. I absolutely did. I started hollering, 'I got it! I can do it!' "

And the costs?

"I don't know, and I don't care," he says with a laugh. "If I knew, I might not do it. Have you tried getting a decent ticket to Fenway, or Yankee Stadium? I already have 11 tickets, to places where I think it'll be hard to get in. And you pay extra money on StubHub. Some places, like Pittsburgh and Miami, you can walk in and sit behind the dugout."

He even put an ad in a local newspaper, looking for someone to spend a segment with him. He came up with a veterinarian from Galloway Township who is bringing his 82-year-old mother.

"We both have partial season plans with the Phillies, to see the same games," Scott says. "But I'd never met him until a few weeks ago. He can't wait. And neither can she . . .

"Hey, right now we're crossing the Indiana border into Illinois."

That was Sunday afternoon. And so it goes.

"We got unlimited mileage on the rental car," he says. "I guess they're taking a chance [with me]. I can't help that. It is what it is. But it's a great ride . . .

"There's always concerns. You can get a flat tire, have an accident, something can go wrong with the car. You can have a rainout, or a game can go 16 innings and you're dead. You just cross your fingers and hope. Sometimes you have a problem finding a place to sleep. And it can get sweaty in the summertime. You do what you have to do."

His one indulgence? He'll get a scorecard and keep score every game.

"I don't generally do that, but I will on this trip," he says. "I don't want anyone to think I get to the game, take a couple of pictures and drive on. We're on a tight schedule, but I try to get there early to see batting practice, too. It's full-scale. And the one thing I learned is, you never leave early. I was in Seattle, and they were losing 6-1 or something like that, in the top of the ninth. And I'm about the only guy still in the stadium. Seattle pulled off a tripleplay. How about that?"

The question, obviously, is: Why? Especially since it's an encore.

"Well, now there's two more teams," he says. "In another 14 years, I might not be able to do it. It's almost like a last hurrah. I have the time and the wherewithal. I feel like I'm part of major league baseball, although I'm not."

Or, as his daughter Diane Ross puts it: "It's insane. But it's great."